Nursery Fertilizer Application Increases Rice Growth and Yield in Rainfed Lowlands with or without Post-Transplanting Crop Stress

Abstract

In rainfed lowlands, the beneficial effects on rice (Oryza sativa) yield from fertilizing the seedling nursery may depend on the occurrence of water and nutrient stress after transplanting into the mainfield. The aim of the study was to test the effect of seedling age and nursery fertilisation on rice yield when plants experienced nutrient and water stress regimes after transplanting. The first experiment, conducted during the wet season in a low-fertility rainfed lowland field in south-east Cambodia, examined the effect of three levels of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and cow manure (CM) application to the nursery and three ages of seedlings at transplanting (4, 6 and 9 weeks after sowing: WAS) on the growth of a traditional photoperiod-sensitive rice cultivar. Increasing fertilizer application to the nursery increased shoot dry weight and grain yield at each age of seedling transplanted. Shoot dry weight and grain yield from seedlings transplanted 6 WAS were 20% and 10% higher than those from the seedlings transplanted at the other ages. Seedlings transplanted at 4 WAS, which experienced a temporary submergence for 3 days after transplanting, recorded 5% greater seedling mortality from the unfertilized than fertilized nursery soil. The taller seedlings transplanted at 6 WAS experienced less mortality despite more severe submergence. The second experiment was conducted at seven rainfed lowland sites across Cambodia to test the benefit of N alone and N+P application to the nursery on rice yields in farmers' fields. In four out of seven trials, grain yield increases averaged 13% with N+P applied to the nursery whereas N alone increased grain yield at two sites and depressed yield at two. Overall, fertilizer application in the nursery produced more vigorous seedlings with higher nutrient concentration which survived submer-* Corresponding author.C. Ros et al. 2879 gence and grew better with or without drought or nutrient stress after transplanting, leading to increased yields of rice. The beneficial effect of nursery fertilizer was additional to any obtained by fertilizer applied to the main field at or after transplanting.

Bacillus Pumilus Strain TUAT-1 and Nitrogen Application in Nursery Phase Promote Growth of Rice Plants under Field Conditions

“…Herein, we suggested that TUAT-1 inoculation had the higher tiller biomass production as a result of vigorous early growth and early leaf expansion at tillering stage. Similar responses to fertilizer addition at the nursery stage were reported by Ros et al [29] and Panda et al [30]. Increased tiller number and tiller biomass have been reported for rice plants treated with PGPR [31].…”

Challenges and opportunities for improving N use efficiency for rice production in sub-Saharan Africa

“…Previous studies suggest that the application of small-dose nutrient resources to a nursery bed increases rice yields, especially for nutrient-deficient soils (Ros, Bell & White, 1997;Ros, White & Bell, 2015;Vandamme, Wissuwa, Rose, Ahouanton & Saito, 2016). Ros et al (2015) demonstrated that fertilizer application to nurseries increased rice yield in the low-fertility, sandy lowlands of Cambodia, reporting yield gains of 0.09-0.21 t ha -1 under well-watered conditions and 0.18-0.32 t ha -1 under water-stressed conditions.…”

“…Previous studies suggest that the application of small-dose nutrient resources to a nursery bed increases rice yields, especially for nutrient-deficient soils (Ros, Bell & White, 1997;Ros, White & Bell, 2015;Vandamme, Wissuwa, Rose, Ahouanton & Saito, 2016). Ros et al (2015) demonstrated that fertilizer application to nurseries increased rice yield in the low-fertility, sandy lowlands of Cambodia, reporting yield gains of 0.09-0.21 t ha -1 under well-watered conditions and 0.18-0.32 t ha -1 under water-stressed conditions. The amount of fertilizer applied to the nursery bed was equivalent to merely 2.7 kg N per hectare in the main field, which resulted in substantially high AE N (33-78 kg kg −1 and 67-119 kg kg −1 in well-watered and waterstressed conditions, respectively), as estimated from the ratio of seeding density to the transplanted density (see Estimated AE N with microdose application technique in Table 1).…”

“…Rice cultivation in SSA is seriously undermined not only by nutrient-deficient soils but also by abiotic stresses at the initial growth stage (Seck et al, 2013). In this respect, the improvement of seedling quality by optimizing nutrient management in the nursery has been documented as an effective measure to overcome abiotic stresses such as submergence (Bhowmick, Dhara, Singh, Dar & Singh, 2014;Ella & Ismail, 2006;Jackson & Ram, 2003;Ram et al, 2009;Singh, Hong, Sharma & Dhanapala, 2004), salinity (Sarangi et al, 2015), and drought stress (Ros et al, 2015). Panda, Reddy and Sharma (1991) demonstrated the large yield gains by 0.4-2.1 t ha −1 and AE N at 40-210 kg kg −1 with the nursery application of 100 kg N ha −1 (roughly equivalent to 10 kg N ha −1 in main field) at submergenceprone fields in the initial growth stage.…”

Optimizing the Phosphorus Concentration and Duration of Seedling Dipping in Soil Slurry for Accelerating the Initial Growth of Transplanted Rice

“…In this respect, micro-dosed and localized P applications were examined in several crops by applying P fertilizer in root zones where P is readily accessible to the plants, instead of conventional application via broadcasting or incorporation. Studies reported that this technique increases rice yield and improves P fertilizer use efficiency, particularly in P-deficient soils in the tropics, e.g., placement of P in a planting hole for the upland rice production system [3,[6][7][8] and application to a nursery bed for the lowland rice production system [9,10].…”